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emdeerm · 5 months

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I'm a Grandpa? Again?!

My brain got away from me. srry

This might be a horrible, horrible idea that will have so many butterfly and directs effects on the DC canon that I know nothing about but...

Consider this: Bruce is Danny's clone/test-tube baby.

Danny has lived for many, many years and somewhere along the lines, he got his DNA stolen again (in his human form mind you) by someone and they made a clone/baby (most likely cause the child would destabilise without more DNA. Human Danny is just 1/3 of the DNA he has). Maybe the League and Ra's is responsible. Maybe some other party I have no knowledge about. Maybe it was GIW. But it happens.

Anyway, whoever succeeded, had some intentions with the clone if it had powers. He did not. Was a failure and was dumped as a 3yo in Gotham. Tom and Martha Wayne found him and adopted the child.

Now, Danny doesn't know it. He just goes around, living his best life with his partner/(s), works somewhere new every 5-6 years or so, trying out new professions when he wants. When his DNA got yonked, he was a practicing cook. By the time Batman is old enough with all his kids he is a doctor or something.

Let's throw in the Ghost King for fun. Love the trope. Could be just him being a super strong and respected Ghost in the Realms who helps himself to Pariah's treasury. Not like the guy needed it anyway.

So, YEARS pass. All parties are unaware. Meta human protection happens. Ecto Acts get ruled out automatically by the Government somewhere in a list of all stuff that change. The Ghosts haven't been sighted for over 30 years. The Government disbanded GIW wven esrlier just cause they were a moneh draining leach. The JL didn't even pay that much attention honestly (let's say Batman wasn't there for some reason to check the final copy), just one more thing that changed for the better in their eyes.

So, Danny and his kind are now legally in the clear. Does he so something with it? Well, not much. Just uses his powers more freely. His rogues don't find the Living Realm all that interesting now and just come to Phantom to play. Except Sculker. That ass is still unbearable.

...

I got sidetracked from my original idea. Anyway-

...

Damian in school has to do the ancestory assignment. And finds out that he has a weird relation to this Random DudeTM. (Maybe Tom's and Martha's DNA was indeed used in the process of creation. Who knows, maybe it was their doing all along in the name of Doctor Science. Idk. All options are fun) Came out of nowhere. The relation is unclear too.

That gets brought up to Father. Father is surprised. Investigation happens.

The Bats are flabbergasted by the results.

Danny gets the news that he is a surprise Granpa again (Dani was the first one to come with a grandchild out of nowhere. Adopted. You know what? Let it be Cass. Let her have a traveling super mom).

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nunalastor · 4 months

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Okay, more Aus and general wholesomeness to help combat the cursed inbox content (TBH, I feel like I should start signing these with an emoji. I’ve sent you like pauses to scroll through your blog and count the anon I know I sent, 20-ish!?!? Ugh, I didn’t think I had the brain rot that bad. Guess not. Any emojis that are free?

AU: For whatever reason, Alastor’s mum comes to visit. Whether its as an angel or time travel shenanigans is unclear. But everyone basically jumps at the chance to explain just how horrible Alastor is. All except Lucifer, who pulls her aside and tells her that while her son isn’t prefect, he isn’t heartless. He’s saved my daughter, multiple times. He’s the one who called be out on being an absent parent. He supported her when I wouldn’t. He respects women so much it’s a defining part of his characterization. He treats Nifty well, even when most people don’t and are creped out by her. He doesn’t lash out at Angle for his suggestive comments (much) because he knows that’s just what Angle is use to. He’s working on a way to own Angle’s soul instead of the man who’ll keep abusing him. And yes he picks fights and embarrasses Vox, but he never starts them. He’s dragged Lucifer out of depressive states and dealt with him at his worse that he won’t let even Charlie see. Alastor’s mum leaves knowing that while her son isn’t prefect, he is doing what he thinks is best, and he is loved.

AU, ft. Helluva Boss: Rather than run IMP, Blitzo works as Lucifer’s bodyguard. How did he end up in that position? Well, he met Alastor and while they do not get along, Alastor respects that he tries to be a good father. The imp soon becomes a part of their small missed matched family, and is the only one who tell RadioApple to their face that they were not, in fact, just friends. He also likes to tell them that they don’t pay him enough to deal with their drama. RadioApple catches word of Blitz messy love life and decide its only far to meddle like he did. They are both, really really bad at it though.

AU, Human: Lucifer is a teacher. The class knows he was married and divorced, and they have reason to suspect that he’s seeing someone again based on what his daughter Charlie has said. They don’t know for sure until they have to switch to Zoom because of the plague. Unforatnely for them, their teachers partner is very good at not being caught on camera. The only thing they’ve seen of him is a flash of a red coat and a charming voice.

General HCs: Alastor and Lucifer can see each other from their rooms, if they stand at the right angle. They make a game out of trying to communicate with each other from across the hotel with hand gestures or magic. It’s pretty hit or miss most of the time. They also send paper airplanes to each other from across the roof.

Lucifer manages to sneak a rubber duck onto Alastor’s person. Where he hides it I’m not quite sure, but it is hidden. Alastor himself doesn’t know about it, but his Shadow does. It doesn’t tell him. The duck is a means of protection and when Alastor is ambushed by the Vees while healing from his wound from the final, he explodes with magic and knocks them all out, does serve damage to the road and building around it and teleports the deer demon back to the hotel. Alastor tells him to never do it again. He is ignored, and the defense ducks are regularly placed on him.

Alastor can melt with his shadow, but what people don’t know is that he can also blend in with other people’s shadows. It's easiest if they know and consent to him being there though. Lucifer has no problem with this, and Alastor takes great delight in scaring people by popping out of the king’s shadow. It also allows him to leave the pride ring, though he can’t leave the shadow, and he can’t stay in the shadow for very long if outside.

so many!! def sign with an emoji - or even submit as yourself or post to your blog with a link i can reblog so people can follow you!

#hazbin hotel #radioapple #alastor #appleradio #radio apple #apple radio #lucifer #headcanon #nunalastor asks

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margareth-lv · 4 months

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🏳️‍🌈 Every girl needs a gay best friend 🏳️‍🌈

Last week, I wrote a post here about the morbid shyness of a certain music manager.

My text was based on an interview Caitríona gave in mid-February 2018, shortly after her so-called 'engagement' and after she'd just won the Irish IFTA for her work on Outlander.

In the interview, Caitríona talked about how she met her fake fiancé. In the February 2018 version, Caitríona met her PA through one of her best friends.

So I decided to look into the subject of this "best friend" who brought the unfortunate music manager to Caitriona.

What I'm going to write today is, I think, 100% obvious to veterans of the fandom. But for those just starting out, I hope it'll be news. And I, well, I'm somewhere in the middle, between newbie status and more than three years of wading through the facts and the myths.

For me, the fun part has been reconstructing the chronology of events. The dates are interesting.

*** *** ***

The beginning of my story is quite surprising. Because we reach Caitríona's 'best friend' by clicking on a link in an article published in 'People Magazine' on 15 August 2019.

The article is entitled: 'Everything to Know About Caitriona Balfe's Super Private Relationship with Husband Tony McGill' and it tells us that: 'the couple tied the knot in England last weekend'.

😱

What excellent investigative journalists People Magazine have (bravo, bravo!), that in a twelve sentence article they could link to a post from Donal Brophy's Instagram.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

And look at this description:

"It’s unclear exactly when Balfe and McGill started dating, but the earliest evidence of their romance dates back to 2015, when a friend posted a video of her sitting on his lap at a bar in Ireland on Instagram. (McGill was not tagged and does not appear to have any social media accounts of his own.)"

🤯

Isn't that brilliant work from Starz/TPTB/whatever's PR Dept?

*** **** *** From the above it seems fair to conclude that the 'best friend' who brought Caitriona bad luck in the form of an unfulfilling music manager was Donal Brophy, because who else could it be?

*** *** ***

And now, let's take a quick look at the Instagram post (dated 1 January 2015) linked to the 'People Magazine' article. We all know it, of course! Here is the irrefutable proof of the passion between our two lovebirds: the rhythmic (and how sexy!) patting on the hip.

🥱

Well, hip-slapping is boring (and not at all sexy).

Far less boring, however, is the look on the music manager's face, the look that seeks Donal's approval (tell me I'm patting her well, do tell!). Could it be that, like the People Magazine link, this video was made to show? I wouldn't rule it out.

*** *** *** Now let's talk about dates: the sexy (not 🤢) slap on the hip was posted by Donal with a date of 1 January 2015, but two days earlier, on 30 December 2014, Donal shared another photo on Instagram featuring both the hapless music manager and Caitríona. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Perhaps the decidedly less seductive and sensual appearance of the 'fiancée' in the December photo was the deciding factor in "People Magazine" not publishing a link to it?

Who could know?

*** *** ***

It certainly wasn't love at first sight. The new boyfriend seems rather tired of Caitriona's presence. 😉

I know this is a mischievous conclusion. I am so, so sorry, my friends.

❓

But one thing is for sure: Donal is an old friend of Caitríona.

I haven't done too much in-depth research, but the oldest photo I've been able to find of both Caitríona and Donal is… a photo in a Flickr album belonging to Caitríona's ex-boyfriend, Dave Milone. The photo is dated… 2002.

😨

You get the idea - Caitríona's ex (and real) boyfriend, Dave, Donal, and after many, many years a new 'fiancé'. It feels like my brain is exploding. 🤯🤯🤯

*** *** ***

But back to Donal: I have a feeling that Donal may have been Caitríona's +1 at times when she did not have an official boyfriend.

*** *** *** And let's not forget: Caitríona has a sweet and tender relationship with Donal.

June 2013, Miss you babe!

December 2013, Caitríona on IG:

December 2013, Donal on IG:

April 2014: They even went hiking together in the Scottish Highlands.

I wonder, by the way, who was their mountain guide? Was it an unfortunate music manager? I think not.

I would rather point to someone else, someone who loves (and knows!) the (S)cottish (H)ighlands. But I won't name him.

⛰️🧗🏻‍♂️

*** *** ***

For those who are unfamiliar with the name Donal Brophy, here are a few words about his professional profile:

You know, it works for me: "While in New York, Donal was also known for epic parties. Everything he organized automatically became a “must-attend” event for New York’s most with-it residents."

You know, that kind of vibe (2007):

😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

*** *** ***

Had he been Caitríona's false fiancé, it would have been easy for us to believe in the beautiful, loving bond that existed between them. But he was only the messenger of bad news. What wouldn't you do for your best friend?

❓

PS. Unless something has changed, Donal was married to Emrhys Cooper, a British actor, singer, dancer, and filmmaker. Together they run Idyllwild Pictures, an entertainment company.

Taken in July 2023:

[January 23, 2024]

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idohistorysometimes · 2 years

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So what is going on in Iran right now?

I am pretty sure most of you who are either on TikTok or keep up with international news have heard about the massive protests happening in Iran right now. Its a pretty big deal. But what exactly are these protests for and why are they so important?

Hopefully, for those who dont know whats going on I can explain it all here.

Who is Mahsa Amini and what happened to her

Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old woman traveling from Kurdistan to Tehran (the capital of Iran) to visit family and was stopped once she entered the city by something called “the morality police” (yes this is a real thing). They claimed Mahsa Amini was wearing her Hijab incorrectly and that she would be arrested to undergo “reeducation” at the police station (which would result in her being released after an hour or so). Mahsa’s brother was with her when she was arrested and waited at the station for her to be released.

It is unclear what exactly happened between when Mahsa was arrested and the events of her death (mostly because we do not have any video of these events), but the women detained along with Mahsa reported for similar offenses reported Mahsa was violently beaten by said “morality officers”. This was supposedly for resisting their insults directed toward her. This story is corroborated by her brother’s report of Mahsa having bruises all over her body and the hospital where Mahsa was staying reporting she was brain dead upon arrival along with reporting signs of skull fracture and bleeding in her brain both on social media and in leaked medical reports.

Mahsa died of her injuries 2 days after she was admitted to the hospital on September 16th of 2022.

The official cause of death as reported by both the morality police and Iranian government has been extremely suspicious since the ‘official’ story claims she died as a result of a random heart attack/seizure combo. However, as stated before, there is plenty of evidence that Mahsa was violently attacked which includes (but is not limited to): the skull fractures found, the bruising around her body and face, the bleeding found in her brain and ears, and the fact several other witnesses have either said they witnessed the assault or have seen the previous things. Mahsa’s father also reported she was in perfect health and did not have a history of heart or seizure issues.

Why are people protesting?

For the people of Iran, instances of violence like this are not an unheard-of occurrence. Since the revolution of 1979 and the creation of this “morality police force” women were forced to wear the Hijab regardless of personal choice and had to adhere to a strict modest dress code lest they face similar treatment to Mahsa. To quote an actual penal code enacted in Iran post-revolution:

"women who appear in public without religious hijab will be sentenced to whipping up to 74 lashes"

Violence against women for this reason was now, in a way, much more normalized. Some of these dresscodes did apply to men, sure, but they were primiarly created expressly to control women with the use of fear and force by way of the Hijab. To also directly quote Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (who has been in power since 1989):

"improperly veiled women should be made to feel unsafe"

Is this an anti-Islam protest?

The protests surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini have definitely gained international attention by what many people are doing in them. Many women are burning their hijabs in the streets, cutting off/shaving their hair, and otherwise just doing a lot of things that, traditionally, would be considered taboo under this system that's currently in place. However, this does not seem to be a direct rejection of Islam and rather a direct rejection of control over women by the use of the Hijab as an avenue for that control.

As stated before, this is not a new issue. There have been anti-hijab protests going on since the revolution in Iran back in the 70s. There were even protests pre-revolution FOR veiling since the leader at the time wanted to strictly stick to western norms. Iran shifted from one major extreme to the other. And in both these extremes choice on the part of the woman in question is completely taken out of the equation. It has been men making these choices for women in a broad universal way without giving women the ability to decide what they want for themselves. There is more than 1 way to veil in Islam. There are also many women who do not veil at all but are still active participants in their faith. There is not one specific way to do this correctly within Islam because modesty as a whole is a subjective topic. So the fact this police force exists in the first place is less about keeping morals ‘secure’ and more about exerting control through these rules via more extreme interpretations.

It would however be unfair to say that these protests and the cultural revolution happening because of these protests do not diametrically oppose some parts of Islam and the culture surrounding it. These beliefs are incompatible by virtue of them being polar opposites of each other. These protests, like it or not, have western influence on them and this influence threatens certain parts of Islam because over time certain aspects of culture have become rooted in these controlling methods. Its pretty unclear how this will all play out. However, it is safe to say this will be shaking up things both within Iran and in the world of Islam as a whole.

Why are Non-Iranian women also cutting their hair?

Ever since the protests have gained international attention many women outside of Iran (both ethnically Iranian and not) have also been cutting their hair to various degrees to stand in solidarity with protestors.

This is significant symbolically for a few reasons. In many cultures, long hair is directly tied to one's femininity, attractiveness, and even in some cases where one comes from. Like it or not hair is culturally and socially important and the loss off it can be a very big deal for those living under these cultural expectations. In Iran doing something like this subjects you to harassment from the morality police. It breaks the morality code and challenges the idea of what a woman should be and look like. Outside of this context, the removal of hair can be a sign of mourning, fear, anger, and a rejection of femininity (or in this case, the control brought on by strict gendered dress codes).

There has been a lot of controversy around this act since many people currently participating in these protests feel this act is performative activism on the part of western allies. Cutting one's hair is not really on the same level as donating money to a cause or protesting yourself. But others believe this is an important act of international solidarity. If you reading this decide to do this: do it at your own discretion and be sure your act of solidarity does not outshine the actual protests going on.

Why are people asking to blur/delete protest footage posted online?

It should go without saying that the people protesting right now are putting themselves in very real danger. What happened to Mahsa Amini is now happening to protesters who are speaking out about Iran’s harsh morality laws. Many people have died already as a result of participating in these protests and many more have gone missing. When you are dealing with an oppressive system like this they are not going to take too kindly to opposition. And if they are not afraid to beat women simply for wearing their Hijab ‘incorrectly’, they are not afraid to do much worse to political rivals.

Out of respect for the protesters and their safety: please blur out any faces, names, and remove all metadata from any protest photos/footage you decide to share online. Because if I can find one of the protestors on Instagram simply by looking at their face and general location so can the morality police. For those around during the Black Lives Matter protests, the Russian anti-war protests, or any other media-sensitive protest use those same rules when posting footage/reporting on them

#iran #mahsa amini #world events #whats going on #psa

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ronearoundblindly · 6 months

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Autumn in a blanket burrito on the sofa late night waiting for steve to come back from a mission he sees autumn wrapped like a burrito slight shuffling missing him 🥹

Yeah, so I'm having some real ups and downs lately. Scrolled through a bunch of old asks to spark some joy and creativity, and this one caught my eye. No one's asked about Autumn in almost a year actually. Makes sense, of course, I'd choose a tale from a series buried in the dark of tumblr...but alas, I need this. I need coziness like life didn't fall apart, like life wasn't a huge lie, like any of it mattered. Steve helping a fellow traumatized does that for me 💜. RIGHT--comfort! Here we go. WC 1.8k

Steve Rogers x super soldier!reader

Full-Sized Throw, an Autumn Is Healing short story

Some days, well, some days are bad.

They’re full of memories. They’re full of pain. Most…most are real memories of real pain. Some are unclear.

The compound is quiet while the Team is away. Everyone busies themselves, too flustered to babysit you. It rained all day. You couldn’t go outside, so there’s nothing to do but think.

Was that you or the Soldier? Did the Soldier feel that or did she inflict it? Is this feeling the worst or are more buried?

Real or not, you still feel it.

The pain lingers. It crawls across your skin, and it melts down your spine. It drips like a leaky tap in your brain. Never ending. It just moves. It just hides. But it never leaves.

Loud music in your headphones drowns out the drip-drip, laying down cuts off that sickening flow along your back, and blankets—usually four of them, wound over every inch of your body—stop the vicious and incessant flutter of fear.

Hydra won’t stop. Agents will come for you.

But…what if…

What if Hydra isn’t coming? What if they wrote you off as a lost cause? What if you mean nothing to them now? Is that…worse than being hunted?

The only support—the only family, in a sick way—that you’ve known for decades—however many hours, days, or years of them you were awake—is gone. All gone. Maybe they don’t even want you anymore.

Some memories aren’t as bad. Not every moment was hell.

Not all of the guards scowled at you, not all of them leered, and in the absence of overt hatred, you told yourself they as good as smiled. If the look didn’t instill more fear in you, it was a smile. Had to be. You hardly remembered what those looked like anyway. The absence of bad is good, right?

To you, absence is as-good-as.

You pull your top blanket tighter, wriggling your feet in the direction of your swirled, lowest layer.

Absence was as good as kindness, you think. Absence was as good as freedom.

Hydra is absent. You are free. That’s a kindness. It’s their only kindness—to go away, to be gone.

Their absence makes you feel as good as happy. It’s still raining. You’re still in a room. You still need a ‘minder’ to go anywhere, but that’s not as bad as before because sometimes your ‘minder’ is Steve.

Steve is kind. He’s full of kindness and real comfort. You remember those things. He makes memories of them. He helps on bad days, even in his absence. That’s clear.

Steve’s been gone on a mission for however many hours, days, or years though, so Blankets 2 and 3 anchor your torso and hips to the couch for the long haul, just in case.

Rumor has it the Team comes home today, but that’s what the rumor was yesterday, too. Not that anyone really tells you anything since you aren’t on their team and you aren’t their fighter. You aren’t one of them because only Steve looks at you like you’re bathed in sunshine, always. The rest see shadow and darkness, an absence of light, an absence of trust.

Absence still feels kinder than the alternative: the leering, the scowls, the…memories.

The blankets hold you firm while it’s dark outside the window behind the back cushions. The foot throw is a standard, almost scratchy thing that came with your cell (for safety), the hip throw was an upgrade once you moved to this room, this bed’s comforter wraps your torso, and covering your head, shoulders, and arms is a gift from Steve.

He said it was a trade for all the lovely sachets of lavender you put together for him, for all the herbs you grew to spice foods you’re cooking for the first time, for “all the things we don’t know about.”

It’s the fluffiest and softest of the blankets, and it smells like Steve. You snuggle your whole face into—

The elevator dings out in the hall.

Maybe they’re home. Maybe he’s back.

You hear talking, not whispers but not loud enough to understand. Footsteps come all the way up to your closed door…and then jog away.

Was that Steve? Why’d he go? He always visits.

Fabric thickened legs swing off the couch. You don’t even register the release of pressure from your back or the loss of complete encapsulation as the foot throw unfurls onto the floor. It’s a mad shuffle to the door, a peek at the clock.

2:29 AM

Did he think he’d wake you? Doesn’t he know you don’t sleep well when he’s not at the compound? Wouldn’t he—

Knock knock.

His footsteps were muted by your racing thoughts.

“Rosie?” he whispers. “Rosie, you up?”

You weakly respond, a single syllable that’s enough to have Steve opening the door without waiting.

“Hey, I brought you this—“ he looks up your body, which is not at all visible save for your eyes and forehead “—candy…”

Big blue eyes soften, illuminated by a solitary, warm lamp by the door and harsh slices blazing through the hall.

“…to try,” he finishes. “What are you doing? Are you cold? Rose, you gotta tell someone if it’s uncomfortable.” Steve tosses the candy onto the lamp’s table and crosses straight to you, his arms wrapping you a little tighter. “You don’t have to—“

“Always,” you mumble.

He only calls you ‘Rose’ when he’s disappointed, but you never want to disappoint Steve.

After a gentle rub up and down your back, he pulls away, but only enough to see your face, turning you a little until the light hits, his gaze like the sun. The sun does shine on you whenever he’s there.

“What was that?”

“It’s always uncomfortable,” you elaborate, poking your chin over the fleecy muzzle. “I wouldn’t know what to ask for. I—I don’t know what will fix it.”

He smiles; Steve simply smiles at you sweetly. It looks easy and real, not as if he fights it, not as if it’s painful.

“Well,” he starts carefully, “if it can be fixed, we’ll figure it out. But you don’t have to be in here alone and uncomfortable.”

“I was waiting. I missed you.” Your words are quiet enough to test even super soldier hearing. “I…I like the…”

You glance down as a gesture to your burrito form and shrug.

“Yeah? So this helps? Being hugged in blankets?” Steve immediately pulls you back into his chest, musk-saturated t-shirt covering everything your throws don’t, and it’s like a balm to your wounded psyche.

Your mind calms, and your body releases.

You know he’s real. You know he’s present.

Steve makes the absence of pain shock your insides like a drug.

He stays there, pressing against you lightly, hands splayed over your head and hip, and he just breathes for a long time. In and out.

This could go on for however many hours, days, or years he’s willing to stay, and you’d relish every instant.

Since you know he can understand the garbled words, you say into his chest, “how was the mission?”

A big in, a quick out, Steve sighs, and when you look up, there is no smile. The absence means something different, but with this, you can help.

“I know what you need.”

You toss the fluffy throw around him and squeeze the soft, stretchy fabric tight.

Steve’s hands land on yours, keeping you connected skin-to-skin. His shoulders sag a little.

“But I liked that, too. I liked—“ He chuckles before a different kind of shadow falls over his face. His eyes flatten and shy away from you. “I want the hug. I need it, Rosie.”

He almost seems ashamed, and that just won’t do. Not at all. You can’t have your sunshine dim for lack of—you jump right into his arms and cling.

One tiny snort of amusement is all Steve lets out. He buries his head in the soft fabric between you, sighing deeper the harder you hold him, lacing his arms around your waist, unyielding. He won’t let go. He walks you both slowly over to the couch and sits.

“That bad, huh?” you prompt. “You need some lavender?”

His fingers dig in. He doesn’t say anything. He stays quiet while you maneuver your loosened covers to tuck him further.

Maybe he’d like to talk but not talk?

“Lot of rain today,” you whisper, settling against the shared body heat of two enhanced humans. “I bet the lawn flooded.”

There’s something lovely about your body equaling his. Sure, the average person feels warm and alive, but to you—and you hope to Steve—this is a novelty. You two account for a not-insignificant portion of the supers on Earth who run this warm. It feels like matching puzzle pieces to unlock a prize. You feel comforted by being comforting.

Some days are just like that

Steve finally lifts his weary head. “Made the whole ground smell like a creekside. Wet dirt—“ he spins you both to lay flat “—fresh grass—“ he shimmies to make you relax your weight onto him, your full weight “—open air.”

A long, long out. When you peek above your head, his eyes are closed. Steve looks peaceful as he mutters.

“Took my boots off in my room, they were so muddy. I’ll take you out to check the garden,” he trails off, “tomorrow…”

His hold on you is still tight but not restrictive, so you shift, your arms crossed beneath your chin, watching him as the absence of worry spreads through the room.

You tap his sternum playfully. “You don’t have to be out there alone and uncomfortable either. I’m right here.”

Steve smirks lazily, barely moving. “I know, Rosie.”

He probably doesn’t know; you doubt he can fathom what you would give to make him never feel how you did today. He deserves all the comfort, all the kindness, and all the happiness. You don’t ever want to dim his sunlight with your darkness, but that’s a hard thing to predict.

“We’ll get you some blankets of your own,” you offer softly and begin to lean back down.

“Uh huh,” Steve hums, rolling to the side, pinning you between the couch cushions and his body. “Just have to stay close…to fit two…for now.” He nuzzles in, curling and contouring till it’s perfect. You’re cocooned again by four blankets.

That's clear. That's real. This will be a good memory.

“Yeah,” you nod, smiling into his chest. “Of course. We can do that.”

The steady, slowing, in and out of his breathing lulls you to sleep, a nice deep sleep, for the first time since however long ago he left.

Some days, well, some days are bad, but they don’t have to end that way.

Stick me in a blanket burrito I'm done 💚 💜 Thank you, anon! Sorry you waited or didn't wait a year for this.

@supraveng @1950schick @patzammit @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @yiiiikesmish @ashesofblackroses @spectre-posts @bucky-fricking-barnes-reads @fallinallinmendes @deandreamernp

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

#ro answers #autumn is healing #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers fluff #super soldier!reader #hurt/comfort

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astercontrol · 5 months

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One more thing I love about the 1982 TRON movie (yes, yet another thing!) is how subtle some details are.

This is, of course, in addition to all the parts that feel genuinely unfinished and not-well-thought-out, or are unintended side effects of some technicality in filming. I mean, I love those parts too! I love trying to figure out exactly where in between scenes Flynn could have asked Ram about Tron, since we see Ram claiming he did, even though he clearly didn't during either of the two times he was in the cell with Ram (because the part where he did ask him was cut from the script)...

...I love theorizing about the program Sark defeated in the lightcycle battle of the first scene, and whether he really reappears as a warrior-elite lightcyclist in the scene where Flynn breaks out of the game grid? (The same actor seems to reappear, probably because of limited cast. But, in-universe, does that mean he's a different program by the same User? Or did Sark spare his life on the condition that he'd defect to the MCP?)...

... And I love trying to come up with a reason why blue is the Bad-Guy color for lightcycles, despite being the Good-Guy color for armor circuitry (the out-of-universe reason is they decided on Blue=Good after all the computer animation on the lightcycles was done already, but... couldn't there be a reason within the story as well?)

My pattern-recognition-program brain loves all of that-- to me it's just a bunch of neat puzzles to solve!

And in addition to those accidental puzzles, there are also plenty of details that clearly had thought put into them, but in return also require some thought from the viewer.

Ram's User is one example of that. Even though he's just credited as "Popcorn Coworker" at that point, it must have been intentional that he's played by the same actor as Ram and is also cubicle neighbors with Alan, in a "mirroring" of their programs being cellmates. But in the original movie, this goes by in a brief, easily-missed scene, and wasn't made any clearer until Legacy and The Next Day came out. Audiences in the '80s could have figured it out, paying enough attention, but it'd take effort.

There are plenty of other examples of stuff like this, many of them just in the props and scenery-- Alan's "Gort Klaatu Barada Nikto" cubicle sign; Yori's name appearing on the monitor when the laser activates, and so on.

And the Bit thinking that Flynn is its program, with the reason implied by the unspoken fact that Clu was its program and they look the same. The scene of Flynn absorbing circuit-color from a guard, clearly without meaning to or understanding how it works-- but it makes perfect sense when you realize he probably intended to steal a uniform for disguise, and his User-Power acted on his intent to disguise himself and simply transferred the red color to him. It's a beautiful goldmine of puzzles!

And then... then there are the social subtleties; the puzzles of emotion and intention, half-concealed within the acting.

Now, as someone who's spent a lot of my life struggling with social challenges and unspoken, unclear social rules, that sort of subtlety is... not always my friend.

But, in a movie like this... a beautifully complex film that's already such a wealth of half-hidden mysteries... I can, on occasion, enjoy the emotional subtlety, seeing it as just another puzzle to figure out.

There are so many cases of a character expressing something, on the surface, that may not be quite what he's feeling deep down. For instance...

Flynn and Lora are amicable exes, seeming to harbor no resentment about their breakup. When Lora brings her new guy, Alan, to visit Flynn at the arcade, Flynn is all laughs and smiles, showing nothing but happiness...

And yet, later, we see that laughs and smiles from Flynn don't always mean happiness.

After seeing him use a cheerful face to cover up whatever anger, fear and despair he must be feeling about Dillinger and the MCP, we start to wonder... how many of the darker feelings about his past with Lora might be covered up in the same way?

Tron, too, is a master of repression. Honestly, sometimes I think he took the directive "Secure and Protect the System, Stop Bad Things from getting through the Walls!" and applied it disproportionately to the walls of his own dingus self.

Look at him speedrun a dozen stages of bottling-up-the-grief, upon learning that Ram didn't survive:

And then, look how calm and cheerful he seems to be, when faced with the potentially faith-shattering revelation that the gods don't know WTF they're doing.

Now, I personally think this isn't a case of emotional repression; it's a case of "Tron does not actually believe that for a second." He is not, at this point, at all convinced that Flynn really is a User.

His choice to say "Stranger and stranger!" instead of "Bullshit!" is the only repression here, and, in my opinion, it's an act of diplomacy on Tron's part. Tron knows that whoever this guy is, he's gonna have to keep working together with him for at least a while, so he decided not to start any unnecessary conflicts over whether he believes the User thing.

Here's another subtlety, at the end, when Tron and Yori are reunited.

Now, I don't mean Yori's explanation of what happened to Flynn, which is unusually non-subtle here. With so many details of the film's plot so expertly revealed through Showing rather than Telling, it's a surprise to see Yori explain in such clear detail just what Flynn did, and just how it helped Tron defeat the MCP... when we, as the audience, already saw all that happen, and could figure it out as well as we could figure out any of the other, more subtle bits of the plot that aren't outright explained to us.

No, the subtlety here is in Tron's reaction. He's happy to see Yori, yes-- but when she starts talking about how great Flynn was, he gets a stone-faced, tight-jawed look to him, like he's... really not all that happy to see his partner fangirling so hard over that doofus.

He looks like he might be giving some very critical thought to just where Yori might've learned that "kissing" thing she just taught him, and struggling with some... complicated feelings about that.

Really I think there is lots of evidence that the Programs (Tron, Yori and Ram) all have complicated feelings about Flynn. To me it seems clear that even when they don't realize he's a User, all three feel the pull of his User-power, perhaps to the point of overwhelming their better judgment.

All three have scenes where they seem irresistibly attracted to him. Though of course Yori's the only one who actually went through with the kiss that... all three of them seemed to be gearing up for.

But just because Tron understands what it feels like to lose control a little, getting swept away in the attraction of a User's energy...

well, that doesn't mean he's happy about it happening to Yori.

Personally I don't see it as jealousy, in the traditional monogamous User-world sense. I see it as more of:

"you do realize that guy is kind of a dumpster fire of a person, even if he is a User? I know what his energy does to you, I felt it too, and that is why I'm... concerned. He has God Powers, but by his own admission he does not really have a clue what he's even doing with them, so... well, I don't know if he's gonna come back here again, but if he does, please please be careful around him, okay?"

I swear. This movie has infinite subtext to explore. I am gonna keep finding things for YEARS.

#tron #tronblr #tron 1982 #ram tron #kevin flynn #yori

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s0ckh3adstudios · 6 months

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I have been trying to figure out some timeline stuff and how old Bullfrog is for too long because it's actually driving me insane

Like. Ok we know that Rayman obviously does not age like a human. He's looked and sounded the same for decades. He has been in this dimension since BEFORE America fell.

But then we get these details later where Rayman decides to sound like a grandpa and say "when I was your age" talking to Bullfrog. In the same meeting, Bullfrog also says he remembers watching Rayman on TV as a TADPOLE. Which you know really makes you wonder about some things

But like. How old IS Bullfrog. And no if you try to tell me he's like 20 I won't believe you LMAO

To put it into perspective, we need to look at other characters- We know that Sarah Fisher was a kid when Rayman was on TV and she seemed to be a young adult (?) by the time the Wasteland War ended. If you look at the website for the show, it'll mention how Jade's parents died during the war and Pey'j was left to raise her. It says he's known her since she was a baby, but the way they phrase it makes it unclear as to whether that's when Pey'j started taking care of her or not. It seems more likely to me that she'd be a baby OR a young child when this happens, so that's how old she is at that time.

BUT also on the website, it tells us that Bullfrog actually participated in the Wasteland War. So he had to have been an adult around that time, he must have been. So when you compare that to Jade, Bullfrog is definitely older than she is. I'm pretty sure it's been many years since the Wasteland War, I mean especially if Jade was younger at that time and she's all grown now.

Unless there's actually a specified amount of years since the Wasteland War? Maybe I'm missing that key info and I'm going off about incorrect things HEHEHFHGF feel free to lmk

Obviously Bullfrog isn't EXTREMELY old or anything but I don't think he's a young guy.

Trying to figure out the timeline hurts my brain

#bullfrog are you in your 40's be honest #/hj #that feels like a bit of a stretch LOL #but i do think I'm just missing something here #do we know how long ago the war was? i can't remember #sock talk #captain laserhawk #captain laserhawk bullfrog

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starcrossed591 · 1 year

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I’m finally caught up on Till the End of the Moon (up to ep 24), and before everything goes to hell--something both that I’m looking forward to and that fills me with dread --I have some Susu thoughts. Yes, she’s done some dumb things to put herself in the situation in which she now finds herself (I haven’t read the novel, though it sounds like that’s in part an adaptation issue), but also, her situation was already fully impossible. A big part of that is because of how many versions of Tantai Jin she holds inside her head and her conflicting relationships with all of those different versions that this scene so beautifully invoked:

Anyway, I’m kind of obsessed with Susu, so here’s a character analysis that literally no one asked for.

The first version of Tantai Jin Susu knows is the Devil God that not only essentially ended the world (stakes almost too big to wrap your brain around) but also killed all of her family and friends in front of her (more personal stakes). He also nearly killed her--she viscerally remembers both the feeling of his hand around her throat and the look in his eyes when he did. No matter what the past version of Tantai Jin does, that version came first and can pop up in her brain at literally any moment, especially as he gains power and becomes more of a potential threat. That leads to the first version of Susu that has to exist: the version that needs to prevent his rise as the Devil God at any cost. Her sect died to send her back in time and give her that chance. She cannot afford to forget her mission.

The second version of Tantai Jin Susu knows is Tantai Jin as how he is when she arrives in the past. He starts out as a poor, abused little mew mew, and Susu pretty quickly finds herself unable to punish Tantai Jin for his future crimes. She’s not even very good at being mean to him. At the same time, she needs to stop him from dying before she figures out how to deal with the whole evil bone situation. This Tantai Jin leads to the next layer of Susu’s relationship with Tantai Jin: she needs to keep him alive and, on the off chance that it’ll prevent him from becoming the Devil God, be nice to him, too. Since no one has cared whether Tantai Jin lives or dies before, or if they did probably preferred him dead, that little bit of kindness and care fully knock Tantai Jin off balance. And that leads to the first time Susu lies to Tantai Jin that she wants to protect him because she loves him, which is where their relationship starts to get messy.

Then, plot things happens, Susu disappears for a few months, and when gets back, she meets essentially the third version of Tantai Jin: Tantai Jin has somehow become king of a whole ass country while she was gone, is fighting a war against her new “home” country, and has started using his demonic powers in a pretty big way. Yes, Tantai Jin is actually a pretty good ruler, but Susu remembers a version of him that’s capable of wiping out the entire world. His newfound access to power puts her on edge. She’s constantly afraid he’ll misuse it.

She also knows now what she needs to do in order to get rid of his evil bone: she has to make him fall in love with her in order to get the weapon that she needs to kill him (at least I think it’ll kill him, I’m a little unclear there--stabbing him in the heart with nine nails seems at least fairly unpleasant). So she embarks on the third and fourth versions of her relationship with Tantai Jin simultaneously: a growing loving, romantic relationship that she has to do a good enough job developing to get what she needs to utterly betray him.

The thing is, Susu isn’t that good of an actress. As she does all the things she thinks she needs to do to get Tantai Jin to fall in love with her (shout out to our romance advice queen Pian Ran), she also falls for him. She also knows that Tantai Jin’s love for her is entirely real because every time his love for her grows, she gets another nail. He’s not faking it. He’s telling her the truth. To keep going, she has to lie to herself convincingly enough to imagine a future with him in which he’s a good person and they love each other, and do all the things she needs to do to bring that future into being. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to manage it. But she also has to be ready to destroy that imaginary future that feels more and more real to her as her relationship to Tantai Jin grows in order to prevent the worse future, the end-of-the-world future, from happening (or so she thinks). To do that, she has to be prepared to break his heart. And if she admits to herself that she loves him and she’s not just pretending for the mission, then she has to be prepared to break her own heart as well to do it.

So, as things stand now: Susu hates, loves, fears, wants to protect, and has to kill Tantai Jin, all at the same time. It’s a wonder she’s not more of a mess.

Also, I haven’t read the novel, but if/when Susu betrays Tantai Jin, not only will he have to deal with the immediate betrayal of the stabbing, if he ever finds out that she came back in time *solely* to stop him and that her love was all a ruse from the very beginning, it really is going to be the betrayal to end all betrayals. Should be fun.

#Till the End of the Moon #tteotm #meta #text post #long post #CDrama

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jupiterswasphouse · 1 month

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BUGSNAX - A REVIEW

A few days ago, I fully finished and 100% completed this game, and I'm very happy to have finally done so! Here are my thoughts, under the cut! (Skip to the end if you just want a quick overview of each point)

As evidenced by the fact I completed the game, I enjoyed Bugsnax a lot! Which I'm happy to be able to say upon playing it myself after having watched other people (Namely Snapcube, all the way back in 2021) play it in the past. It's a nice change of pace from the other kinds of games I've played in recent times, and a type of game I can't say off the top of my head that I've really experienced before. I've played my share of creature collectors but those were mostly RPGs, like the Pokémon games, whereas Bugsnax takes the concept into a full 3D space where you don't exactly battle the Bugsnax but, rather, you trap them!

Forgive the comparison I'm about to make but it's almost like you're pranking the wildlife of this island, tricking them in various ways to get them into your backpack. It starts off as simple as just waiting for Bugsnax to wander into your trap, and for a handful of species it stays that way, but with the wide variety of them available to you and which you're expected to catch, it becomes more complicated very quickly! The game can become slightly repetitive at points, especially having to refight bosses for 100% completion, but they vary things up enough with tools and specific catching conditions that it never became boring for me. I'd say that Bugsnax is almost a puzzle game in that way, trying to figure out what combination of things catches what Bugsnax. Although some of said 'capturing puzzles' are easy to cheese, or come up with multiple solutions for.

Despite that, though, Bugsnax can be a challenge for the brain! Like any good puzzle, the solution can be difficult to piece together right away at times, making for engaging gameplay that keeps you thinking. That's a great thing, as it's really the only challenge there is in the game. Bugsnax does not have a fail state nor any lives to lose, no matter how much the aggressive Bugsnax try and no matter how many times you light yourself on fire in the middle of Snaxburg. Bugsnax simply isn't a very difficult meal to swallow! Which isn't a bad thing.

As a side note on the gameplay too, the game does keep you busy with a multitude of main quests, side quests, and letter quests, giving you many reasons to want to catch all of these Bugsnax!

Speaking of the titular Bugsnax, though, they're a very interesting bunch! With 112 of them to find (after the release of the free DLC), the variety of designs on display is wonderfully creative and charming. Yes, some of the designs are reused and retextured, but that's perfectly acceptable and to be expected when you're capable of transforming almost every NPC using said Bugsnax!

They're certainly interesting to observe and speculate on how they came to be! They're not anything that could exist in our world, but that's kind of the point! They do, however, interact with each other in some ways you might expect from wild beasts, fighting with each other and accidentally running into each other on occasion. Bunger, Spuddy (Beetle-like Bugsnax), Preying Picantis (A mantis-like Bugsnak), and Scoopy Banoopy (A giant water bug-like Bugsnak) being as aggressive as they are, while played up for gameplay purposes, does mirror how strong and combative these insects are in the real world! Although, you never see these Bugsnax eat each other, nor at all apart from when you specifically toss sauce at them, making it unclear how they survive apart from eating said sauce, even though the ending goes some way into explaining that, to an extent. Even still, not much that truly needs to be explained goes unexplained when it comes to them

Of course, the creativity and good design of the Bugsnax would mean nothing without an equally charming world and set of colorful characters to go along with them! The game does not disappoint there either, making for quite the feast for the eyes. The biomes are lovely, and environmentally tell you quite a bit about the history of the island, from the crashed ship on the beach of Boiling Bay to the cave scrawlings of Garden Grove and the clear existence of a long gone civilization in Scorched Gorge and the isle of Broken Tooth! Meanwhile, the NPCs, the Grumpuses, have wonderfully charming designs, resembling muppets to an extent, all distinct and fun designs but still simple enough to fit in with the impressive mechanic of 'Snakification' without being too disturbing... Most of the time

Heads up! The next section goes into SPOILER TERRITORY, if you want to save the story for when you play it yourself, skip to the next chunk of bold text

When it comes to the story that surrounds all of the Grumpuses, it continues to be quite the charming game, with its comedic flair, colorful personalities, and sweet personal moments. However, it's not a conflictless experience (Nor should it have been!), with many characters fighting and having problems that range from Wiggle being afraid of being a one-hit-wonder and struggling to create her next masterpiece, to Snorpy struggling to communicate his feelings to Chandlo while Chandlo worries about the unhealthy amount of stress that Snorpy is going through, to Beffica being unable to hold a friendship because of her own actions and being afraid that she won't be able to ever have anyone close to her. It doesn't pull its punches, especially once you get around to helping them with some of these issues in the sidequests!

The biggest issue that requires being solved however is the driving force of the game, getting everyone back to Snaxburg, and especially the adventurer who invited you to the island in the first place, Elizabert. The search for Elizabert takes essentially the whole game, searching for clues and interviewing Grumpuses, watching tapes that display the relationship of Elizabert and her girlfriend/wife (unclear whether or not they're married), doctor Eggabell.

This search concludes in quite possibly the most unsettling muppet body horror way it could have, with Bugsnax being revealed to be parasites, composing essentially the entire underground of the island, with Elizabert herself being turned into a giant but somehow still sentient and sapient beast made of multiple different legendary Bugsnax, among other species! and the final sequence of the game is spent essentially killing Bugsnax in a brutal saucy massacre across Snaxburg before making your escape.

Now, does this make Bugsnax one of those "Oops, it's a horror game actually!" games? Not in the slightest. This is not as overtly horrifying and gorey as something like Doki Doki Literature Club, although it is possible to lose Grumpuses to the influence of the island in the final sequence if you play your cards wrong, this is more like an Undertale situation in the sense that the game is mostly perfectly fine but has some disturbing undertones and moments! It is a super unexpected moment but I like it, and the ending provides a very satisfying resolution to everyone's problems while still leaving enough questions about the island for a Bugsnax 2

[END SPOILERS]

The game is also very well scored with a mostly electronic sound track that fits the charming and mostly relaxing atmosphere of the game! Seth Parker's smooth synths filling the space perfectly between Grumpus dialogue and Bugsnax yelling out their names Pokémon style, with an adorable credits theme done by Kero Kero Bonito, which fits in perfectly with the rest of the music.

Now, in terms of game stability, having played after patches, I'd say this game is stable enough for the average player, some things being a bit easy to break for people who are looking to do so, with very few glitches being detrimental to the experience. I did have some Bugsnax get stuck or disappear, but it wasn't enough to really effect things much given there are a couple ways to respawn them (sleeping, leaving the area and coming back).

One funny thing did happen to me though, and it was my fault entirely! I saw the broken bridge in Scorched Gorge and was like "Hmmm, I bet I could get across that when they don't want me too" and I did! Then the game autosaved and I had accidentally set several flags in the game skipping Snorpy and Chandlo's quests. I had to find the save file and manually edit it so that I could fix my hubris and unskip the quests! Which was thankfully not very hard to do, and I got to experience those quests without issue.

Now, finally, what would I add to a Bugsnax 2? Well the obvious answer for me would be some form of wasp Bugsnak, I just want more representation of my favorite guys!! But for a bigger suggestion, I'd say that there are tons of different real world bug features and behaviors that could make for interesting gameplay elements and designs! With mimicry, pollination structure building, symbiotic relationships, resource gathering, pheromone communication, multiple stages of life, etc etc. I'd just really like to see what the Bugsnax team can do with things like these! Even down to more species or family specific things!

All in all,

Gameplay: Fairly unique! Can be repetitive at times but stays varied and interesting enough to be engaging for most players.

Difficulty: Catching Bugsnax can be challenging but it's still fairly easy, with very little punishment for failure outside of the very end.

Graphics/Design: Extremely charming with varied Bugsnax and cute NPCs that fit with the biome they're in very well, providing a lovely atmosphere to the game, even if Snakification can make things clash at times.

Story/Lore: Very good, keeping you interested in the world and characters of the game, and at times delving into more serious, personal topics and problems, as well as setting up a world that shows plenty of its history, while leaving some questions to be answered

Soundtrack: Rather smooth, synths filling the space in nicely and not leaving much awkward silence, with a very good guest track

Stability: Rarely detrimental, not giving the player any major issues, while still being breakable if one were to try to do so

Completion Time: 29 hours

Overall: Recommended

#Wasp House Review #bugsnax #Review #long post

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starry-blue-echoes · 2 months

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Star Swap is so hyped for me!!! cuz Jotaro just has to go through his trauma! Jotaro gets to uncover what happened! Protect his past self! He has to inform his past self that things are going to go well In the past his mom was going to be okay and nobody (Important Dio get fucked) dies. But also things are going to go bad because that brat that past him is currently inhabiting right now. Will make everyone in the past freak out so bad because he didn't write down a single thing explaining anything.

SO RUDE JOSUKE! and low-key life-ruining.

I know you said in general that Jotaro Is going to have a thing with electricity and Loud Noises (which I think are Kira's bombs I'm pretty sure) I also think *Click is just going to Immediately alert him. But I would also like to add RATS.

Because I can't get over the fact that two Jotaros with their same Stands are going to be facing off with two rats with their same stands and our two Jotaros are going to get CLAPPED. Those rats were INSANE.

Anytime Adult man Jotaro nearly gets killed

The teenager Jotaro’s brain: FREAKS OUT

I think the main issue here is that Jotaro has no actual context so Jotaro looks at a radio tower “I have emotions towards this And have no idea why and that's a problem.” I also feel like he's probably going to be Vigilant toward any unexplainable feelings that seem to emanate from that memory Gap so those Feelings just kind of get Amplified until he gets an explanation.

Having said that, I do believe that it is quite possible for our adult man Jotaro to ping Yoshikage Kira Before he does anything in front of anyone. Passing each other on the road but only once.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS yesyesyesyesyesyes

GOD this is all so delicious I barely know where to start

I didn't even think about just how much the mystery of Jotaro's "past" is going to tie into all this. Part 4 really is just a mass of mysteries and uncovering so many decade old secrets, and now some of the secrets have become personal

(Also uh. Before we get into things, clarifying nicknames are likely in order <3 let's just keep it simple and easy, Jojo is the teen and Jotaro is the adult)

but just. Gods can you imagine the pure chaos when Jotaro and Jojo meet for the first time. Jojo of course realized what was going on first, after all Jotaro's style.... really hasn't changed much. Not to mention the subtle shift in the air when the other man used his Stand

and of course, when Jotaro realizes he gets thrown for a loop. He came here to check up on his father's illegitimate child and do some poking around for the arrows. Now he's suddenly being nailed in the face with the past that's eluded him for years

it's going to be a MASSIVE relief for Jojo to hear, even if he doesn't express it fully. That mom is safe, that everything turns out okay.

He is however, equally as frustrated by Jotaro's lack of clarity in his memories and starts planning out a very aggressive note to leave behind when they finally switch back

and YESSSSSSSSSS with the clicking noise and rat thing, that's absolutely perfect. Especially with the rat thing since well. They move :)

and the worst part of it all, the electricity and explosions and clicks and rats, is Jotaro doesn't know why. All he knows is that this is a danger to him, that it is life threatening and pain causing and he needs to get away

(and speaking of Bug Eaten, Tonio is going to be getting a L O T more visits than in canon on account of the whole..... Being The Only Healer In This Entire Stand Ridden Town)

I LOVE the concept of Jotaro getting vague feelings of events to come. Because his memories aren't fully gone per say, they exist and are present but they're hazy and muddled and unclear. And yet, with every day he spends in Morioh, every adventure he hears the kids have gone through and every adventure he gets roped into as well, they become clear

But rarely do the warning systems help. At least, not in any way that truly helps. After all, Fate and the Future has already been decided. every action has already been taken, every fate known, every thing unavoidable. This is not a second chance at the life Jotaro had lived, it was Jojo's first chance

that's the most taunting part of these feelings. How vague and muddled and fuzzy they are. A feeling of deja vu can mean a new ally or a hated enemy and he can't differentiate the two

when he eventually realises this, Jotaro shifts his energy to something he can do, and that's training the kids. He came back to his own time a competent fighter and with the ability to stop time, so dammit he knows he can at least try

...........wait a moment I had

a FUN idea to play with regarding the time stop

so. Given the fact Jotaro learned it essentially via a slight paradox, there would be no relation to Dio at all. There wouldn't be any baggage or trauma attached to it at all

at least...... not with Jotaro that is :)

the other Crusaders? Who fought and nearly died against such an ability? That's an entirely different ball park :)))

plus, it could also lead to some fun angst in terms of "Theories Of Where Jotaro Was" now including captured and possibly trained by Dio which wasn't a fun thought for anybody involved

#f in the chat for joot's mental state it's all over the god damn place #star swap #jjba #jojo’s bizarre adventure #stardust crusaders #stardust crusaders spoilers #jjba part 3 #diamond is unbreakable #diamond is unbreakable spoilers #jjba part 4 #jjba jotaro #jotaro kujo #sb answers #angstaceanon

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intermundia · 11 months

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Sorry to bother you but I'm curious to know your thoughts on this.

I know it's not technically canon but the novelization does at point depict anakin wanting to leave the order to raise his kids and padme encouraging him to stay. I know he's his own person and all but having his wife pushing him to keep up the lies and secrets is kind a factor in his decisions I would say. Having someone you care for so deeply tell you to keep living a lie is definitely something that would mess with your brain and influence your perspective on things.

Idk. Just something that I feel is overlooked sometimes in the discussion of Anakin’s decision in not leaving. I would really love to know your thoughts on this.

“Anakin, not here. It’s too risky.” “No, here! Exactly here.” He drew her against him again, effortlessly overpowering her halfhearted resistance. “I’m tired of the deception. Of the sneaking and the lying. We have nothing to be ashamed of! We love each other, and we are married. Just like trillions of beings across the galaxy. This is something we should shout, not whisper—” “No, Anakin. Not like all those others. They are not Jedi. We can’t let our love force you out of the Order—” “Force me out of the Order?” He smiled down at her fondly. “Was that a pun?” “Anakin—” He could still make her angry without even trying. “Listen to me. We have a duty to the Republic. Both of us—but yours is now so much more important. You are the face of the Jedi, Anakin. Even after these years of war, many people still love the Jedi, and it’s mostly because they love you, do you understand that? They love the story of you. You’re like something out of a bedtime tale, the secret prince, hidden among the peasants, growing up without ever a clue of his special destiny—except for you it’s all true. Sometimes I think that the only reason the people of the Republic still believe we can win the war is because you’re fighting it for them—” “And it always comes back to politics for you,” Anakin said. His smile had gone now. “I’m barely even home, and you’re already trying to talk me into going back to the war—”

yeah so i think that padmé's encouragement to live the lie is deeply unhelpful. if i recall correctly, there are two key times anakin thinks about leaving the order, both of which are in her presence, and yet she is the one who offers pressure back toward staying. the above passage is taken from right after they are reunited, and it is so telling to me. padmé loves him as her husband, yes, but she also sees him as larger than life, and says things that absolutely feed his ego. she encourages him to think the rules don't apply to him, because he is so important and special.

she doesn't take his commitment to the order seriously with respect to what it means to be a jedi, but she wants him to stay there anyway. i think that this kind of encouragement is rather similar to palpatine's manipulations, though she definitely has less sinister motives, the result is the same. her permission to break rules exacerbates the potential weaknesses in his character that lead to his fall. it compounds with sidious's maneuvering. her pressure makes him feel like not only a tool of the jedi but also the democratic opposition, unable to have what he wants because of politics and duty that he doesn't personally care about. all he cares about is getting what he wants.

i honestly don't know if he was ever genuinely serious about leaving the order. he clearly does not take his commitment seriously, but he also craves the power that having high status in the order brings, both in terms of access to force training and the glory of being the youngest council member. he thinks of leaving only when he's directly looking at padmé, not otherwise. so basically it's unclear to me whether or not he actually meant to leave, but what is not unclear is that padmé absolutely pressured him and flattered him, manipulating him and trying to use him (not with bad intentions! with the best of intentions!), and it encourages him to the edge of darkness. his perspective is absolutely shaped by her words.

i just believe that they make each other worse. that is the tragedy of their relationship imho. they love each other, and it harms them both.

#anakin skywalker #anti anidala #i think #which is just kind of canonical to me as anidala is bad for both of them in the text #but anyway #yeah i think it is important to keep in mind #sw #sw meta

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hikennosabo · 5 months

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#tristampparty day 6, episode 6: once upon a time in hopeland

THE HALFWAY POINT OF @tristampparty BABY!!! this is another episode i've watched multiple times on its own so... LET'S GOOOOO

and we start right out the gate with

wolfwood vial count: 2

i don't think i need to keep saying that masaya onosaka is the radio dj... he's been a constant...

LOL, LMAO, EVEN

"disposal," though... we know all about the last run, but what else does disposal entail. like what do they do with the. um. the corpse? and the word "disposal"... yeesh...

so they say, even though it's obvious bullshit. but i do wonder. conrad is in charge of july, EoM's base is in july, etc etc... but how many people actually know what's going on? who does "the july government" consist of besides conrad? what about the civilians living in the city? EoM's cover is flimsy at best, they're suspicious as hell, so how deep and how far does the propaganda machine reach that this can just... keep going on?

all this planet has is radio and newspapers, no TV, no internet, and everyone is struggling just to survive... we saw just last ep how EoM had a grip on one village to the point where it was normalized to sacrifice children... just how good are they at controlling information? jeez. roberto and meryl's job as reporters is more important than ever.

we see that part of wolfwood's designated role is to go after deserters and traitors, so that's another way of controlling information, but. he's just one guy. so they probably have more assassins than just him. maybe the rest of the ghg that we haven't seen yet? there's livio, too, but... how long has he been with EoM at this point? the timeline's so unclear on this, i don't know... we know it took "months" between wolfwood being taken by them and his escape attempt + livio(/razlo) joining, but we don't know how long ago that was either... presumably it would also take "months" for the experiments to be done on livio, or maybe even less time? uhhhhh (steam comes out of my ears from thinking too hard)

......i'm less than 3 minutes into the episode. let's continue.

it's cute that they shrug simultaneously. mad at each other but still in sync... :')

no idea why the orphanage would be highlighted on the map except for foreshadowing purposes, but it looks like the steamer stops at... uh... *squints* taradiddlescoast... deucedump?!... orange bazoo... who tf is naming these places?!

:') aha. ahahahahaha. ahahhahahahaha. ah. uah. ue. ueeeeeeaaahhh

we already know that the sandsteamer route passes by the orphanage. so i like that there's a sandsteamer visible in the distance. very nice subtle attention to detail here

i feel like people are always quick to point out that livio and wolfwood being siblings is specific to stampede only but i DON'T care, this is my FAVORITE interpretation of their relationship, i really love it so much and think it enhances the narrative and nicely contrasts the relationship between vash and knives. orange was SO big brained for this and i'm not kidding. they're brothers in the manga too, to me.

the dub line here is "stop, livio! he's not who hurt you!" which just tears me into a million pieces, thanks!

...if i remember correctly... the "great sand ocean" is called as such because things just sink into it, right? (hmm... wonder how many crashed ships sank into the sand ocean...) hence the boat-like vehicles that are used to cross it. as we can see, the bad lads gang uses what look like windsurfers. and yet wheeled vehicles seem to fare just fine...?!

we never see what the test is. huh... i'm reminded of the promised neverland all of a sudden

nicholas gets selected and the bell rings... can i point something out? the bell's presence in scenes... what the bell represents... it has the EoM logo on it. well, so does the building. but notably, we see the bell in the scene with livio and wolfwood on the roof at night and also in the scene of them cuddling which i posted above. they're bonding and they love each other but the eye of michael is quite literally looming over them... and over the orphanage as a whole...

i've already talked about this in my bookclub posts but i want to talk about the orphanage's relationship with EoM again. it's literally run by them... there's NO cover story here, they're CLEARLY suspicious as hell. in the manga, chapel came by himself to pick wolfwood up and the cover story was that they would be repairing churches, right? and everyone genuinely believed he was going off to live a better life. here it's just. a bunch of guys in suits and masks. obviously suspicious. they run the place, so i guess there's no need for a cover story...? but iirc in the manga EoM was also using the orphanage as a "source" for soldiers, right? like i think chapel says something like that, doesn't he? am i misremembering?

i have so many questions. there's no confetti. what does that mean. this is a lot more lowkey than wolfwood's departure in the manga. no cheering, no invitation to come back/saying this is always his home, just... polite waves. and melanie looks... unhappy. how much does she know? how much of a choice does she have here? ...huh. i'm reminded of the promised neverland again.

what does this mean for... y'know. The Scene. like. the confetti is important. the kids loving nicholas so much and cheering while saying goodbye is important. why did orange take those out what are they planning what does it MEAN!!!!

wolfwood is "test subject HL1-06" and i have no idea what that means and we can't determine from this how many kids came before him either.

wolfwood vial count: 3

hi sweetieeeee i love youuuuuu i love youuuuuu

see this gets the gears turning in my head regarding the timeline again. legato says this, and we see some flashforwards (i guess in this context that's what they are) to wolfwood killing people, including the guy from the beginning of this episode and monev from the last episode... (over which legato calls him a loser, lol?! even though that's very much not the reason why wolfwood killed him, and we know it) so how long was wolfwood working for EoM before he was given the job to "babysit" vash?

i already talked about this in one of my bookclub posts but there's the change in livio's motivations, too... he's chasing after wolfwood... as opposed to (razlo) wanting to be needed... what does it mean. man, i really hope orange doesn't do razlo dirty whenever he shows up for real.

THIS CLEARLY ISN'T STRINGS. WHY IS LEGATO'S POWER DIFFERENT IN EVERY VERSION OF TRIGUN I SWEAR TO GOD like it's telekinesis, right?! what does this mean for legato?! and his backstory?! strings are so fitting for him thematically, so i don't know what they could be planning here!!

kouki uchiyama will see a guy with blue hair covering one eye and say "is anyone gonna voice him" and not wait for an answer (and then fight akira ishida over it)

CONRAD I'M GOING TO THROTTLE YOU. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR EXPERIMENTS ARE DOING HUH. HUH!!!!

HGORHGHGHG.GHG. AHGHGGG.HGH.

thinking about the previous episode and eating rocks

livio hears wolfwood's name and that's when he opens his eyes and kicks vash off him... i initially thought maybe he just took the opportunity because vash was distracted, but he was distracted by the military guys right before this, so...?!

say that to knives and see what happens. also hello pretty boy you are so pretty i love you i'm blowing you kisses mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah

whenever legato talks about his confusion over fraternal love i can't help but remember nightow's comment about him maybe having a younger sister. which is interesting to think about but has never been relevant for any version of legato ever... buuuut... with orange's attention to detail, hmmm, who knows...

also i'm obsessed with legato driving hands-free and I AM ONCE AGAIN ASKING HOW HIS POWERS WORK IN THIS VERSION.

*wipes brow* let's end it there i wrote too much. i know i'll have a lot to say about the next episode too. they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming

#tristampparty #trigun talk #june speaks

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mothstache · 5 months

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The Woodland Crow

AU talk time under the cut!!

So after watching a playthrough of the GORGEOUS fangame that is Undertale Yellow, and knowing my love for fantastical RPGs with memorable characters and truly horrifying moments sprinkled in, my goofy lil brain threw together the concept of a RPG-like AU abt a bunch of notable rabbid characters. I pitched it to a good friend of mine that is just as obsessed with Woodrow as I am and soon the convo turned to him naturally.

I don't know why this man has latched onto my brain like he has but I think there's so much potential to be had with him in so many ways. I pitched the idea of this theoretical RPG having 4 different routes with a different boss depending on the route. So. What about the 4 seasonal wardens as each final boss with varying theming to go with them? And ofc, knowing both my friend and I, we decided Woodrow as a final boss would be! Kinda fucked! This guy is a poet of autumn who brings disaster with his work, could potentially be the most powerful rabbid in theory, and does not have the greatest outlook on the universe, at least in this AU. My idea I proposed entailed fighting him like normally (however you would in the RPG), but then halfway through, a murder of crows arrive and things get REALLY bad.

I love the idea of Woodrow being associated with crows, big shoutout to @bramble-scramble for cementing that in my head /pos. I imagine throughout the leadup to his boss fight in this AU, crows would show up around him quite a bit, as silent companions and symbols of what's to come. The reason I think you'd fight Woodrow in the first place would likely be the same as the other Wardens - they're guarding something (I don't know what yet). But by the time you reach Woodrow and battle him - and I imagine his battle would play out with him using the bad luck he brings ON PURPOSE against you - he's slowly losing his sanity from the sheer magnitude of what he's dealing with. When you defeat what I'll call his first phase, he collapses to the ground, only for his crows to arrive. Instead of helping their master, they begin to swarm him, pecking and biting him. But Woodrow, while he's crying out in pain, doesn't fight or beg for the protagonist to help. He breaks out into loud laughter and grins wildly at the player before the crows cover him completely. When they finally disperse, there's nothing left of him, save for his hat and coat and bowtie.

Upon following the crows after they fly off, the protagonist tracks them down finally. The swarm of birds starts shaping themselves into a massive creature, finally revealing themselves as The Woodland Crow, a much larger, winged creature resembling Woodrow.

I think The Woodland Crow would be alluded to earlier in the route, spoken of as a supernatural deity of bad luck. Whether or not this is even fully Woodrow at this point, unclear, but from this point on the boss would be intense as HELL.

So uh Yeah! My goofy idea for a Woodrow final boss, but fucked up. If you read all of my ramblings thank you and I hope I didn't make you question my thought process too much 😁

#mario + rabbids #ts woodrow #au #au talk #long post #sigge talks #my art #digital art

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canarydarity · 1 year

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hello,, remember that Jimmy centric harbinger of death au I mentioned months back? Have a snippet of a scene from the first chapter :) (which will be posted in full soon!)

“Jimmy, look out!”

From over his shoulder, he hears it—the spark and a slight buzz, like static; for a weird second, he thinks of the radio and the crackling, the sand in the desert. But he knows better, he knows that hiss, a sound that haunts him both awake and asleep. It doesn’t matter that he was just facing that direction and had seen no sign of any creepers—there was a conditioned response to what he just heard, everyone has one; Jimmy’s is to drop, ducking to the ground hands up and over his head—not that they would’ve done anything to protect him had the threat been real.

And while nothing happened—no crater dug itself into the ground, no hole ripped itself through his barely-armored body, no gasp as he woke up back in that desert—the panic was most definitely real. Seasoned target of one too many jokes, following the usual progression Jimmy knows the anger comes next; the panic would fade upon the realization that the threat wasn’t real and the annoyance at whatever joke was played would take its place, no less insistent and intense as the feeling before it. But as Jimmy cowers on the ground, catching his breath, his hands frantically cataloging limbs and appendages and understanding he was fine, he doesn’t find that his fear gives way to anger—his fear wasn’t giving away at all.

His ears are ringing, which is weird because there had been no actual explosion. The noise came from somewhere—probably a disc if he had to guess—but it was pre-recorded, only a playback of some other detonation, it shouldn’t have nearly been enough to do any real damage. And it didn’t seem to for anyone else either, if the laughter he vaguely hears behind him is any sort of indication. The perpetrators are fine, but even so, Jimmy’s head rocks like there had been a blast, like he needs time to recover.

No matter how many times he repeats to himself that nothing had happened, that it was just a stupid prank, he can’t seem to calm down.

A hand touches his arm and he flinches hard, blinking up to find Scott just trying to help him to his feet. “Easy, Jimmy, easy.” Jimmy lets Scott pull him until he’s standing, brushing him off.

Martyn is still laughing at his own prank, wiping a tear from below his eye, practically wheezing; it’s unclear how much of it is real and how much is for show. “I have gotten a one hundred percent success rate with that,” he brags with a happy sigh, hands out to his sides, inviting them to join in on his praise. “I gotta say, I’m pleased.”

“What was that noise?” Jimmy asks, but his question goes unanswered.

“He got me as well,” Scott says, but then he turns to look at Jimmy with a smirk. “But not nearly as aggressively as he got you, Jimmy.”

Jimmy wants to join them in their amusement, he really does, but his heart rate hasn’t quite recovered yet. He’s embarrassed, almost, to still be feeling it. He blinks a few times hoping to clear something in his brain, begging himself to calm down, to chill out before someone notices.

But of course, the next thing Martyn says is “Just a music disc Tim, jeez, you alright there?” Not sounding at all actually concerned about Jimmy’s state of being; his deceptively kind words more an excuse to poke at Jimmy’s weak spots than actually inquire about his feelings.

He wants to play it cool, to take the joke as easily as he’s sure the others have, but instead on instinct his shock makes him shove his arm in Martyn’s face, crowing “I’ve got goosebumps, Martyn, look!”

Martyn draws back in his distaste, his own hand coming up to push Jimmy’s arm back down and away. “Yep, I see that alright, thank you.”

Scott pats Jimmy twice on the shoulder, something he’s quickly getting sick of happening in this sort of context.

“I’ve got a few more people to get with it, though, so—” Martyn says, clearly trying to take his leave now that he did what he came here to. “Actually,” he interrupts himself, “have you seen Grian anywhere?”

Scott shakes his head, “No, I—”

And—maybe just a moment behind—Jimmy understands he means to repeat the prank again, and speaks without really thinking about it or meaning to for the second time today.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, actually.”

Martyn’s eyes dart away from him and then back again like he's giving some sort of aside to an audience, acknowledging the weirdness of Jimmy’s comment with a 3rd party who’s in on the bit. “Um, what?”

Jimmy ignores the feeling that he’s walking himself into a joke, calling on Martyn to pick him apart like usual—because the feeling of wrong wrong wrong wrong is so much stronger. His ears are still ringing from the explosion that didn’t happen, and he rubs a hand over one of them trying to make it go away before he answers, but for some reason, that only makes it louder.

He winces, both from the pain and the knowledge that he knows exactly how this conversation is going to go over before he even starts it.

“I said you oughta stop that.” He tries to be firm, but from the smirk on Martyn’s face, he’s not going to succeed. It makes Jimmy double down, rush the rest of the sentence out of his mouth as quickly as possible, trying to avoid the possibility of being dismissed. “Someone could get seriously hurt!”

“It’s not a real creeper though, is it Timmy?”

Jimmy feels the helpless frown settle on his face, and the frustration that comes with knowing he's going to lose but not wanting to give up; he acts and speaks with the same level of intensity as he does with everything else, but there's an underlying urgency here that he does not doubt even though he doesn’t quite understand its cause. He doesn’t bother answering Martyn’s question, knowing at least enough to understand that he isn’t meant to.

“I still don’t think you should be doin’ that though!” He argues, and the worst possible turn the conversation could take begins from there; dismissal of the point that the prank is potentially dangerous for the more amusing idea that Jimmy is a sore participant.

Martyn rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. “Oh come on,” he drawls. “Take a joke, take a joke…”

Jimmy groans, “But Martyn, I think th—”

Martyn groans back, “But Timmy!”

Scott laughs and Jimmy turns to glare at him, giving up on his sentence halfway through.

Martyn takes the distraction as his leave, already having jogged halfway across the tiny valley by the time Jimmy looks back in his direction.

“You’re gonna kill someone with that!” Jimmy yells after him, but Martyn is ignoring him and making really exaggerated gestures of goodbye, like he's just given a performance and the crowd is shouting for an encore. He brings both hands to his mouth and blows a kiss to his imaginary admirers, then clasps his hands together giving a large bow; waving, smiling, mouthing thank you.

Jimmy calls again “I’m serious Martyn!” But his friend fakes a laugh and says “oh, you’re all too kind!” Before disappearing over the crest of the mountain across them.

#first full chapter to come somewhere in the next 1-2 weeks !#sentinel species au #worm writes #i just wanted to post this and jog some memory before i posted the first chapter #and to keep up my motivation as i keep writing LOL #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #life series #life series fic #jimmy solidarity fic #third life fic #trafficblr #team rancher #team rancher fic

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jeremy-ken-anderson · 9 months

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Obtuse Systems

So, Warframe.

I don't think the process of getting stuff is made unclear on purpose, exactly. Like, you've got the malicious confusion of systems like Diablo Immortal, which is designed to baffle your brain with piles of semi-related numbers until you swipe your credit card to make the problems go away. This ain't that. Rather, I think there's a closely-related desire (having items' provenance unknown at first) that is, frankly, misguided in this day and age, and that makes things unclear. And also, a lot of the confusion is the result of the patch cycle - both in terms of the shortage of time to clean things up and make them easier to digest, and in terms of the fact that a house will almost always make more sense if you build the whole house at once than if you build a house and then expand it with five or six additions in every direction (a spare attic, a new garage, now the garage is a workshop and there's a newer garage...). That's the phenomenon you have here. Even if you have enough time to think about the problem properly at all, rejiggering the plot structure so players get to certain pieces of content in an order that feels narratively satisfying and doesn't feel like you've dropped them in the deep end (and populated it with alligators) is just Hard.

At the same time, there's something I've found very pleasant about the difficulty seeing all the systems at once. Because there's a real-world timer on crafting (generally 12 or 24 hours, with new warframes themselves being a whopping 72!) and I've got a bunch of stuff I'd like to build with that timer, I don't have a strong urge to go find all the elite hidden stuff. For now, at least, I'd just like to build the things I can build already. And I expect it'll be a little while before [pace of building] catches up to [pace of getting blueprints/materials]. It'll have to surpass it, and then remain faster for long enough to make up for all the time the pace of building's been ahead.

In general I do understand why so many people drop this game. It's not in your way but you are inundated with Space Junk when you complete the tutorial. Here are 20 new resources, and if you want to make a new warframe you have to find the blueprint and you have to find the 3 blueprints for the parts of that blueprint (for instance to make Rhino I need the Rhino Blueprint, which tells me I need Rhino Optics (which requires the Rhino Optics Blueprint along with some other resources), Rhino Systems (requiring Rhino Systems Blueprint plus other stuff), and Rhino Chassis (requiring, you guessed it, a Rhino Chassis Blueprint plus other stuff) along with a mid-sized pile of one of those twenty-odd resources I just mentioned.

The good news is the process of getting most of these is pretty standardized. The bad news is it's all kind of a mess, and I don't know that I can think of a better answer to their problem: You want to have a system where players can level up in one field without having endless repetition on one field transfer easily to everything else. There's a bit of that anyway (Working the market to earn Platinum is pretty reliable) but it's not terribly widespread. If you want to avoid someone running one known map ad infinitum and getting One Hojillion Steel or what-have-you and then being able to build everything you ever release without engaging in content ever again, one thing you might do is let them get Steel as much as they want but make it an ingredient in only five or six of the many recipes in your game. Make it so players need to engage with different stuff to collect different things, and they generally will. But it does mean I literally don't know how many unique resources I've actually found in-game.

#review #warframe #game design

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